Hair-inserting apparatus



Jan. 20, 1970 A. KLASS.ERT 3,490,397

HAIR-INSERTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 16, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.7

Jan. 20, 1970 A. KLASSERT HAIR-iNSERTING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Jan. 16 1968 Jan. 20, 1970 A. KLASSERT HAIR-INSERTING APPARATUSFiled Jan. 16, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Jan.- 20, 1970 KLASSERT 3,490,397

HAIR-INSERTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 16, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig.7

United States Patent O 3,490,397 HAlR-INSERTING APPARATUS AloysKlassert, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, assignor to Walter Ul-rich,Kalberau, Germany Filed Jan. 16, 1968, Ser. No. 698,173 Claims priority,applicafiim G6grmany, Jan. 18, 1967,

3,4 Int. Cl. Dc /00 US. Cl. 112-795 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREHair of different lengths is inserted in workpieces such as doll-headsby using a rotating pull-out disc with groups of circumferential notchesending inwardly at different rotary paths, whereby each of said groupscooperates with a separate cutting means.

This invention relates to a method and a device for forming and cuttingelongated loops of filaments or hair lengths.

The invention is particularly suitable in combination with chain-stitchsewing machines used for inserting hair into doll-heads, wigs, plasticcaps and the like, whereby the filaments or hair lengths are pulled outto loops by means of a rotating disc and where said loops are cut by aknife.

It is known to use chain-stitch sewing machines for inserting hair intoworkpieces and doll-heads whereby a modified chain-stitch (crochetstitch) is employed. Said modified chain-stitch is distinguished fromthe conventional simple chain-stitch as follows: The thread disposed onthe upper side of a base fabric is drawn out to a loop of increasedlength by means of a disc provided at the machine, and said loop is thensevered by cutting means cooperating with said disc. In the knownmachines, a separate pull-out disc is required for every length of thehair. By adjusting the angular position of the disc and using a variablespeed drive, the number of the pull-out discs can be reduced to areasonable figure, e.g., to four discs for filament lengths of 2 to 22cm. Doll-heads made in this manner have, however, hair of uniform lengthover the entire head because it is not possible to work successivelywith hair of different lengths. In order to avoid open areas showing thebase fabric, a uniformly dense hair cover is necessary. This, in turn,results, particularly if longer hair is used, in accumulation ofexcessive hair material on the head, and said excess has to be cut outagain by means of an Evilier scissors in order to be able to apply ahair-do. This requires additional time and labor and results in the lossof artificial hair.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the invention to provide amethod and device for pulling out lengths of hair by means of an elementwhich allows the insertion of hair of different lengths in workpieces.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a consideration ofthe specification and claims.

According to the invention, the problem is solved by having the disc atone revolution pull out loops of different lengths in a predeterminedsuccession. The short lengths of hair then serve to cover the basefabric of skin of the doll-head, the longer lengths are used for thehair-do.

It has been found that the following successions of the hair lengths areof particular advantage: long, short, long, short; long, long, short,long; long, short, short, long; long, medium short, long, medium short.Of course, any other schedule can be applied.

A device suitable for carrying out the method of the invention comprisesa rotating pull-out disc which is pro- 3,490,397 Patented Jan. 20, 1970"ice vided with circumferential slots of different lengths whereby thepull-out ends of said slots are situated at different rotary paths andeach group of slots cooperates with its own cutting means.

It is of advantage to give those slots, which are intended for theshorter hair lengths and end further inside the disc, an arcuate formwhich ensures that the threads passing therethrough are kept undertension.

The invention is further explained in the following description withreference to the accompanying drawings which disclose preferredembodiments of a suitable device and in which FIG. 1 is a top plan viewof a pull-out disc provided with four slots for alternating long andshort hair lengths, in the pull-out position for the long hair lengths;

F LG IZ is a top plan view of the disc of FIG. 1 showing the pull-out ofthe short lengths;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along line III--III of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4-6 are diagrammatic illustrations, showing a base fabric withchain-stitching of various successions of different hair lengths, and

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic front elevation of a hairinserting sewingmachine with a thread-tensioning device.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is shown apull-out disc 1 with four pull-out elements for regularly alternatingthe insertion of long and short lengths of filaments. The disc 1 ismounted below a flange 2 {by means of screws 3 for adjustabledisplacement in slots 4, and is rotated in the direction of the arrow byshaft 5. Four slots 6 and 6' for passage of the needle are provided inthe disc 1. At their rear ends, the needle slots 6 form inwardextensions 7 for long hair and the needle slots 6- form extensions 8 forshort hair. A radial arm 11 is secured to the hollow shaft 10 andcarries at its outer end knife-holding means 12, secured thereto by ascrew 13. Pressed into said holding means 12 are two guide bolts 14 and14' in which a knife 15 is urged against the disc 1 by two compressionsprings 16. A second knife holding means 19 is screwed to an arm 17which has a slot 18 for adjusting its position with respect to arm 11.Holding means 19 guides in two guide bolts 20, 20' (FIG. 3) a cuttingmeans 15 which is urged against the disc 1 by compression springs 16.The knife 15 is arranged in the rotary path of the long hair slotextensions 7 whose pull-out end is designated 9. The slots 8 laterallyextending from the needle passage slots 6 are so arranged that theybegin at a certain angle straight inwardly and then form for a certainlength an arc to their end 9'. Said angle is smaller than that formed bythe slot extensions 7. The arcs are so formed as to tension the filamentloops at their passage and to ensure the correct insertion of the loopsby a looper into the hooks of the needles. The knife blade 15'cooperates with said arcuate slot extensions 8. The end of said arcuateextensions is so arranged as to produce the desired length of thefilaments and to prevent the knife 15 from engaging the filaments to thelong loops.

In regular intervals, long and short filaments, e.g., synthetic textilefilaments, are drawn out by the pull-out disc and cut. Of course, it isalso possible to use differently arranged pull-out discs, e.g., a dischaving three slots 7 for long hair and only one slot 8 for short hair,or vice versa so that the filaments are drawn out in the sequence long,long, long, short, or short, short, short, long. By turning the disc inthe support 2 and securing it with screws 3 in another position, thelengths of the obtained hair can be modified. If, e.g., the longest hairlengths in the slots 7 were 215 mm. and in slots 8 were mm., turning thedisc 1 in a direction opposite the direction of rotation, hair lengthsof mm. and 60 mm. can be produced in slots 7 and 8, respectively.

It is not necessary to limit the number of slots in a disc to four. ByWay of example, FIG. 6 shows a succession of three different lengths;long 40, medium 41 and short 42. In this case, the pull-out disc musthave three slots of dilierent lengths and three cooperating knives. Bycomparison, FIG. 4 shows two lengths; long 40 and short 42 and FIG. 5also shows two lengths arranged in a pattern of long 40, long 40 andshort 42. t

In conventional pull-out discs with slots of uniform length for hair ofuniform length, no thread tension is required for normally curled hair.However, for hair of difierent lengths, a slight tension is necessary toobtain proper engagement of the thread in the hook of the needle. Asuitable device for this operation is shown in FIG. 7. At the head of amachine 30, there is fixed an angular rod 31; at one leg of said rod,fiat bar-s32 and 33 are provided which carry round cross bars '34 and35. The spools 36 are placed on pins 37 of the machine table. The threadpasses from the spool 36 througlra hole 38 in the angular rod over thecross bars 34 and 35 to the looper 39. The, tension in the thread can beadjusted by displacing the bars 34 and 35 more or less in the directionof the arrows.

I claim:

1. In a device for inserting hair-like threads in a pattern of difieringlengths into a workpiece, in combination with a sewing machine, arotatable disc having at least two dilferent groups of circumferentialslots for reception of a needle and thread loops, said slots terminatinginto extensions directed inwardly at an angle to said slots, theextensions of at least one group of said slots ending in a rotary pathother than the extensions of at least one other group, and plurality ofcutting means corresponding to the number of said different groups, oneof said cutting means being positioned for cutting the threads pulledout by each of said groups whereby upon one complete revolution of saiddisc, hair-like threads of diflering lengths are inserted into saidworkpiece.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the slot extensions for theshorter hair lengths are arcuate so as to maintain the thread loopspulled out therethrough under constant tension.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 comprising a support for said cuttingmeans and means to adjust the position of said cutting means on saidsupport.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 comprising a shaft for said disc andmeans securing said disc rotatably to said shaft.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1 including a thread tensioning devicecomprising adjustable guide means adjustable in the plane of insertingthe thread into the workpiece.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,780,190 2/ 1957 Lenoble 11279.52,812,734 11/1957 Richards 1l279.5 2,977,906 4/ 1961 Follender 112-7953,225,724 12/ 1965 Klassert 1 124l0 FOREIGN PATENTS 958,293 5/1964 GreatBritain.

H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Primary Examiner

